Teach your baby to read!

09Jul

Your Baby Can Read! is an Early Language Development System that teaches both phonics and whole language using a combination of sight, sound and language. The system was developed by recognized exert and infant researcher, Dr. Robert Titzer, Ph.D. The set is designed for children aged 3 months to 5 years, and includes 5 DVDs, 5 double-sided word & picture cards and 1 wipe clean word card with dry erase pen. The DVDs use other kids, animals, poems and songs to teach words and language and repetitively display the words on the screen. The first 3 DVDs introduce 50 new words on each for a total of 150 words. The fourth DVD combines these words and new ones to produce short phrases and the fifth DVD is a review that shows familiar words and phrases in new contexts. Find answers to frequently asked questions here, or read Dr. Titzer’s responses to questions here. The set is available through Usborne Books.

Win it! My first giveaway!! One lucky reader will receive the Your Baby Can Read! ($79.95) set pictured above. To enter, leave a thoughtful comment on this post describing your favorite memories from reading as a child and your favorite children’s book before midnight July 16. General comments such as, “Pick me,” “Great contest,” “I’d love to win,” etc. will be disqualified. You must provide a valid email address and respond to prize notification within 3 days. After 3 days, your prize will be forfeited and another winner will be notified. The winner must be able to provide a valid US mailing address for shipping.

i have a great book story. i always loved to read books from the school library, which is also where the book fair was held. i was the free tuition kid at a private school so all the other kids would buy tons of stuff, but my parents could only give me a dollar for a book marker. every year, i would lookk gingerly through all the wonderful new books, content to day dream. but one year after the day’s book fair, i got called to the office. i was scared i was in trouble. but i was presented with the best stack of books and markers. the librarian had bought them with her own money. it meant the world to me. i never forgot that kindness.

Awake

July 9, 2008 at 3:40 am

~well heck, I’ll trade a memory for an entry 😉

~ my fondest memories of reading were in the summers, at bedtime, when my room was still light from the setting sun, so I could stay up later reading without my parents catching on. Oh, and staying home sick, laid out on the fort of blankets on the couch, and reading.

Just went to an Usborne home book show last night and I am interested in these dvd’s. I wonder if they really work?!! I love the idea for vocabulary. He doesn’t watch much tv, so he may have the attention span for it.

My favorite baby book is The Monster at the End of This Book. Still love it. Still laugh when I read it to my kids. In my tweens, I couldn’t get enough of Madelaine L’Engle (not sure of spelling there). A Swiftly Tilting Planet, The Arm of the Starfish. Brilliant story telling.

I’m not sure how I feel about trying to teach young children to read. (Although, reading TO them, I absolutely believe in, fanatically.) I’ve read some really thoughtful articles on how developmentally their little brains just aren’t ready to understand language in this way. In particular, for boys, the early push to reading in Kindergarten can be damaging according to some of my reading. I haven’t made up my mind, but it’s interesting.

psychmamma

July 10, 2008 at 6:17 am

AnyMommy –

I LOVE Madelaine L’Engle!! My favorite was always “A Ring of Endless Light” but I also loved “The Arm of the Starfish.” I’ll have to check out “The Monster at the End of This Book”

My thoughts (briefly) on teaching young children to read:

Read to them, read to them, read to them! The benefits from this are many, including bonding and attachment, even if you’re not considering vocabulary and learning.

Talk to them, talk to them, talk to them! Just TALKING increases vocablulary and later language and reading skills.

Give them easy access to books, flashcards, words, etc. but don’t “push” them to read early. Babies don’t need to read, but getting them interested in language and making words and reading fun will reap big rewards later.

I, personally, used “Your Baby Can Read” similar to the way I used Baby Einstein movies. We didn’t do “drills” or quizzes, and we didn’t follow a set schedule or amount of viewing time. I just let Jenna watch the videos, interacted with her by talking about what was going on, and occasionally “played” with the flashcards with her. (She’s not reading, by the way, but I’m not worried….she DOES have some word recognition that is the beginning step to reading though)

I think there’s currently a parenting trend toward pushing kids too much, too early to “achieve,” when they really just need some time to be kiddos. Sooo…I’m not saying a baby should be able to read, or that we should strive to say, “My 10-month-old daughter can read!” – – I’m just presenting a product that can be used as a helpful teaching tool, or just as some fun videos that are also educational.

I love to read to my son-right now his favorite book is Cat in the Hat, especially when his dad reads it to him because he does all the voices!! 🙂 I’ve always been a huge reader and can remember reading with my parents as a young child-I think this is the most essential part of teaching your children to read. That and setting an example for them that reading is enjoyable.

I had to go out in the hall at school & have help because I wasn’t a good reader. I want my little Lucy to read muh better than I did & love it. I read to her everyday, plusshe is 3 months so this would be a perfect start!

Lachelle

July 13, 2008 at 3:34 pm

I didn’t really catch onto reading until I was 6 years old (after kindergarten even) but as soon as I did – I received an award for reading the most books out of anyone in first grade. You couldn’t stop me and I have loved reading ever since! As a kid I loved the Boxcar Kids series and then then Little House on the Prarie.

psychmamma

July 13, 2008 at 5:41 pm

Lachelle

Oooh! I loved the Boxcar Children too! Thanks for the reminder and the little trip down memory lane!

Unfortunately, I don’t have any fond memories as a child for reading or anything else. However, I do instill bed-time reading to my children every night in hopes that they will carry this on to their children one day.

Every night my two little girls (Patience and Piper) pick out a book that they’d love me to read. We get comfy on the floor mat in their room and start reading. Our favorite book is “I like myself” wich is a great book for boosting your kids self esteem. They practically read it to me, but it is so much fun. I guess they learned from me that you can’t just read a book, you have to express it too. So, when we read, it’s like a movie being played through each page flipped.

I hope I am still able to be entered into your giveaway…I just never had a very good childhood, most of it, I’d like to forget.

psychmamma

July 13, 2008 at 6:11 pm

Barbara

Sorry that your childhood memories aren’t something you want to revisit, but I’m so glad that you’re working hard to create some fantastic ones for your own kids (and I love their names!) You are definitely entered in the drawing and I’m going to go check out the book “I like myself” right now!

Wow, stretching the memory here! The first book I can remember reading was “The Pokey Little Puppy”. I think the books that I loved the most as a kid were the “Little House on the Prairie” series. I still love those. My daughter loves when we read books together. Her favorites are the Dr. Seuss books. She can’t read on her own yet but she does have them memorized from how many times I read them to her!

I always remember reading to my little brother. My mom worked strange hours a lot when we were younger. So my brother and I would pick a book, our favorites were The Dr. Suess books when we were little, and I would read to him until our mom came home. It was a routine we continued into our teens.

My earliest book memory is “The Nonsense Alphabet,” which my parents read often to me.

My all-time favorite children’s book….don’t have one! I am a fan of books overall, and never can pick just one. But my kids are really into Dora and Richard Scarry titles right now. I also love to read the classics to them.

Thanks!
Megret
musesofmegret (at) gmail (dot) com

Go Amie

July 13, 2008 at 10:24 pm

My earliest reading memory is reading “I am a Bunny”. I still love that book!

My favorite children’s book is probably “Goodnight Moon.” It is so sweet and soothing, perfect for bedtime!

You know I had wonderful parents that always read to me, yet I can’t pick a favorite from then. I can remember as I got a little older, I loved Judy Blume & Beverly Cleary books. I was also fond of Madelaine L’Engle and I am re-reading “A Wrinkle in Time” at the moment. I also loved the American Girl Series!!

My favorite childhood memories–just in general–are of reading. Every night my mom and I would lay in my parents’ bed and read… the stories that stand out in my mind the most are the “Little House on the Prairie” series and the “Chronicles of Narnia” series.

Now that I have two kids of my own, I can’t wait to start reading to my daughter about Laura, Mary, Carrie, and of course Ma & Pa Ingalls. 🙂

For now, though, one of our favorite books is “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.”

Thank you for entering me into your contest!

Laura K

July 14, 2008 at 1:12 pm

My favorite books as a child were Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein and The Cat in The Hat by Dr Seuss.
I loved to hear the little non-sensical poems in Where the Sidewalk Ends so much, that my major in college was English Composition: I wanted to be a writer.
Now I have both books for my twin boys, and read to them as much as they will let me!
Thanks for this great giveaway!

Elizabeth M.

July 14, 2008 at 10:17 pm

I don’t remember specifically having one favorite book when learning to read but I remember loving to sit with my Grandpa and read Dr. Seuss books. He was so patient with me and would just wait quietly for me to get through it all. He died when I was very young but I remember he always asked me to read to him when he came over to visit.

i was 2 or 3, and my mom read from an alphabet book which had pictures of objects that began with the same letters of the alphabet. i had no idea what some of the objects were, but i knew what letter they began with! the other fave was my dad’s Cat in the Hat dictionary which was well worn by the time it was handed down to me. i used to pour through those pages in my room at night. i had an early love of books that flourished throughout youth and well into adulthood. if i have a little extra cash, i spend it on books instead of food. yup, bookworm, that’s me.

my favorite children’s book is actually a series: Little House on the Prarie. uhm, wait. actually, Chronicles of Narnia. Dang. I have to pick just one?! OK, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Anything about chocolate wins, hands down.

I love reading my kids some of the books I loved growing up like Tikki Tikki Tembo, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and the There’s a Nightmare…books. I have 3 children under 4. They all love books!! Thanks for the fun giveaway!

My grandmother used to visit us a few times a year. And every night before I would go to sleep, she would read to me from the novel A Little Princess. I still think I have a copy of that book

Marlena

July 15, 2008 at 9:35 pm

As a child, I remember loving story time in the car on long road trips. We would pack a bag FULL of books and read, read, read. Now that I have a daughter (she’s one), I am cherishing these memories in a whole new way. She is growing much more patient with reading books and will pick books off of her shelf and sit for more than one story at a time. I love to see that she’s developing a love for story time! One of MY favorite books as a child was the classic “Goodnight Moon”. Since having my daughter, I’ve discovered Sandra Boynton and Eric Carle as some of my new favorites. Thanks for the chance at winning! m_huston(at)hotmail(dot)com

My favorite book was Barbie goes to a party, my dad would read it to me every night at least twice. I still have the book and won’t get rid of it, even though I have a son and not a daughter! One day….One day.

Tiffany

July 16, 2008 at 12:51 am

I remember laying my blanket outside, next to my siblings, and we would all lay down and read our favorite pick from the library that week. My favorite books were Amelia Bedelia.

I remember having Tikki Tikki Tembo and The Ugly Duckling on a 45 (instead of a tape) as I child. I would take out my red, white, and blue record player and my little books and listen to the read aloud. I just bought my 4 year old Tikki Tikki Tembo, I love that book!

I had never initiated the book before bedtime ritual. We often read lots of books at other times during the day, and I felt too tired to read at night. Then, a few months ago, my daughter began asking me to read to her every night. She started the ritual herself! Now, her older brother also gets in on the act. Each kid gets to pick one book, and they both sit on my lap as I read both books. I’ve really come to enjoy this time! My only regret is that we didn’t begin this ritual earlier!!

I always remember not being a very good reader until late highschool, but my favorite childrens book is “Caps for Sale” I love reading it to my girls, who I have to mention, are much better readers than their mother ever was, and they LOVE it too. Thanks for the chance.

Samantha

July 16, 2008 at 1:53 pm

My favorite reading memory is of laying on my parents’ bed while my mom read to me the Heidi series, one chapter a night. I also remembering repeatedly reading my younger broother his favorite book, The Pokey Little Puppy. My favorite book as a child was Goodnight Moon, and now I love reading it to my baby boy…

Rhonda

July 16, 2008 at 6:06 pm

I remember mostly our large collection of Dr. Suess books. We never seemed to get tired of them. What a creative poet he was to make so many, timless, childrens books.
I came over from Metropolitan Mama, I have seen her use these for her daughter and what fun they were for them.

Rachel

July 16, 2008 at 9:55 pm

I LOVED the Little House on the Praire series. I remember begging my mom to let me stay up just a little bit longer so that I could read just one more chapter. My best friend and I would “race” to see who could read those books the fastest. I would run into the classroom every morning to find out how much she had read the night before! 🙂 Thanks so much!

As a mother, I was curious what the programs out there were about.There is nothing wrong with these approaches to reading as long as the videos are relevant and information is not forced on a child. We have the Your Baby Can Read series and we wanted a bit more so we purchased the Monkisee DVDs. I decided to try out different programs thinking if it ever became work or something she did not want to do than we could use them as Frisbees. I am truly impressed with the Monkisee DVDs as a mother and as a school psychologist, wish I could hand them out to the young children I assess for developmental delays.